Lahana takes lead in Sydney-GC race

In the early hours of this morning (July 29), the unthinkable happened when John Honan and Peter Millard’s 30-metre super maxi Lahana overtook Queenslander Grant Wharington’s Wild Thing after the latter had led the Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race from the start on Saturday.

Lahana’s (NSW) navigator, Carl Crafoord, had taken the yacht on a course offshore, while Wild Thing, along with so many others, preferred the coastal route. The two should finish anytime from midday onwards -- weather dependent.

However, Crafoord’s decision proved a good one this morning, with Lahana taking a slim 2.4 nautical mile lead, but with 67 miles left to sail to the finish line, the race for line honours is shaping up to be a ‘State of Origin’ battle, with either boat capable of taking the prize.

Shortly after 7.30am, Lahana was more to seaward in the race, sailing at 10.7 knots off Evans Head, while Wild Thing’s boat speed had picked up to 14.7 knots, so it could be a nail-biting match race to the finish if the weather gods keep the pressure on.

The weather synopsis for the day is an interesting one; 10-15 knot north to north-westerly winds for the front runners in the earlier part of the day, which will push them up the coast quickly, but the north to north-east is set to return this afternoon, peaking at around10 knots, making it tougher for those behind them.

Now it will be a matter of making the most of the earlier conditions to try and finish ahead of the lightening nor’easter.

While the top two concentrate on sailing their fastest, a second Queensland entry, Peter Harburg’s V70, Black Jack, is sneaking up on the pair, just five nautical miles behind Wild Thing. Harburg, who last year finished second on line and inside the race record with his former yacht, is giving his new purchase her first ocean race.

With the line honours contenders getting closer to their destination, the fight for the main prize, the overall win, is well and truly on. Phil Molony’s A40, Papillon, is leading Grant Dawson and Brent Lawson’s Kerr 11.3, Kerisma, with Lahana filling out third place. They are followed by Darryl Hodgkinson’s newly purchased Victoire, Bob Steel’s 2008 Rolex Sydney Hobart winner, Quest and Rod Jones’ newly revamped Audi Sunshine Coast.

From James Walker on Rod Jones’ Welbourn 50, came this news at 8.20am: "Plenty of wind overnight with a steady 12-18 out of the north-east early on, which was a quite a contrast to the previous 24 hours. We opted to stay a little further offshore and while that seemed OK, we appear to have been punished a little for it at dawn. 

"Still, a long way to go in this race to decide the outcome," Walker said, referring to the 134 miles they have to sail to make the Main Beach, Southport finish line.

As the conditions change behind the line honours contenders, so will the provisional overall placings. In the vicinity of the bulk of the fleet, where the overall contenders are, east to north-easterly winds of 10-15 knots are on the menu for the day decreasing to 10 knots in the late evening.    

The yacht tracker system allows family, friends and yachting enthusiasts to follow the race -- and their favourite yachts -- for its duration. Each yacht is fitted with a Yellowbrick tracker that will obtain a position using the GPS satellite network, and then transmit that position back to Yellowbrick HQ using the Iridium satellite network.

For more information and a full entry list log on to http://goldcoast.cyca.com.au.